Day: April 20, 2018

The health benefits of apples are significant and who doesn’t love the taste of a freshly picked apple, or a warm apple pie in the fall? We all remember the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!”. Aside from being a memorable childhood rhyme, it is based on the fact that apples have great health benefits and an interesting history to go with it.

A Short History of Apples

In the springtime, apple trees are filled with blossoming flowers. In the autumn, the flowers begin to fall off and the fruit begins to grow. Orchard owners can look forward to each year’s crop being more plentiful than the last with the proper pollination and fertilization.

Despite their affiliation with symbolizing America, the apple actually originated in Asia. It’s believed that apples predate other types of fruit tress that were being grown and harvested to provide food. The Romans were the first to take the earliest version of apples, which were small and didn’t taste very good, and turned them into something similar to what we eat today with cross pollination. Roman and American botanists both worked to create several new varieties, and today there are over 7,500 varieties of the tasty fall fruit across the world.

Apples were brought to America by colonists. Bringing trees on a long voyage across the sea from England was not something that was practiced, so instead they brought seeds.

Johnny Appleseed was an American folk hero. He has the most memorable story of apple cultivation and because of him the apple industry flourished. He made it his life’s work to spread the taste, beauty and knowledge of the apple to people all across America. He taught the people to grow their own trees and how to tend their apple orchards. He helped to make apples a readily available food for people of the time.

Apple Trivia

The apple has a long history and is associated and grown in many cultures worldwide. Here are a few fun facts about one of our best loved fruits:

There is evidence found by archeologists that suggest apples were being eaten as far back as 6500 B.C.

There are about 2500 varieties grown in the United States, 7500 grown in the world.

China produces the most apples in the world.

The apple is the official fruit of West Virginia, New York, Rhode Island and Washington.

The largest apple ever picked weighed 3 pounds and 2 ounces.

65 apples per year are eaten by the average person.

25% of an apples volume is air, therefore it can float.

The crabapple is the only apple native to North America.

Apple Nutrition

One medium apple is the recommended serving size and it contains about 65 calories. Apples contain Vitamin A, Calcium and Iron all at about 1% of your daily recommended intake. Vitamin C can be found in a medium apple at 10% of your daily intake. One apple also provides 12% of what is recommended daily for dietary fiber.…